Verna Kay has worked in HR for over twenty years, with eight of those being in credit unions. Verna joined On Tap Credit Union in 2022 and is the Vice President of Cultural Stewardship, leading our HR team. Although she has worked in various industries in both international and local bases, Verna gravitated toward credit unions because she liked the idea of helping employees and communities. She found that her own personal values aligned with On Tap’s and moved all the way from Michigan to be a part of it.
We sat down and interviewed her about the ins and outs of the job market and best practices when navigating your career. Read on to get a deeper understanding of what the job market looks like from someone who has real insight into what it is like to hire and develop employees.
The Job Search
If you’re on the hunt for a new job, Verna stresses patience as this can be a long process. She suggests doing a real inventory of what you enjoy doing and what is important to you – this will translate when you make it into an interview room. From there, you can really tailor your search to companies and jobs that reflect your values which will likely help you to enjoy the work more. Make sure you do at least some preliminary research on the company before applying so you can make sure you aren’t wasting your own time if it doesn’t end up matching what you are looking for.
When looking at your resume, the three big mistakes she sees people often make are the use of pictures and information about their family (which can introduce biases), making sure your information is accurate as you can later be let go if you lied, and make it readable and simple – you would want anyone to be able to pick it up and understand your experience. Verna also gave the reminder to always double check your grammar and to exclude any ‘fluff’ in the resume.
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Once you do get into the interview process, be as honest as you can. Verna made the point that you will likely spend more time at work than with your own family, so it is incredibly important to make sure that the culture and values are what you are looking for. Culture is more important than you think so if you are rejected in the process for being yourself, it likely wasn’t the right fit anyway. Verna suggests asking the people on your interview panels what they like about the company and their work. This will likely give you a pretty good idea of what it will look like for you.
Wanting to work for a credit union but don’t have any banking experience? Don’t worry. With member service as a pillar of the credit union industry, being good with people is the most important thing. You may have to start at an entry level position and learn as you go but there are certainly opportunities to start fresh with a credit union.
Reviews and Moving Up
Performance reviews can be scary, but Verna says they shouldn't be a surprise. Your boss should be talking to you throughout the year about how you're doing. A competent manager will have sat you down before these reviews if there were any serious concerns. That being said, if you do receive some critical feedback, it is your opportunity to take it in stride and learn from it. Just because you got a poor rating on something does not mean it cannot be improved upon.
Performance reviews are your chance to also critically look at the position you have and whether or not you are enjoying it or optimally using your skillset. It may be that there could be another job that would be a better fit for your talents. Either way, this is an opportunity to grow.
When it comes to conversations about promotions and raises, Verna suggests being completely transparent with your manager. It is important to be open and honest about where you are. That way your direct supervisor is able to be your advocate to their own managers. A good manager would be consistently looking at market research to make sure your pay and benefits are fair, but if you feel that this is lacking, do your research and approach your manager with care.
There are certainly times where you will feel like the process in your career development is not going as fast as you would like. With the current market, there is often so much movement that expectations of moving up are often high. That being said, Verna’s biggest advice on this after you speak with your manager is to be patient. Not only do the logistics of a promotion often take a longer time than you would expect, but patience and hard work are rewarded with promotions when you are working for a company that values you. If you are working a job you love, “good things come to those who wait.”
The Important Stuff
In the end, Verna believes that where you work is about more than just the money. It's about the people you work with and the environment you're in. She cautions just chasing the bigger paycheck as it can sometimes mean you lose other benefits like a good work-life balance or coworkers you enjoy. Your team, and especially your manager, can have a huge impact on your life as you spend much of your day at work, so you need to be discerning when deciding to leave or look into getting a new job. Your job has a significant impact on your wellbeing – it takes up both time and energy from the other parts of your life that are important so be thoughtful when navigating the process.
